Justice Dept. Attorney Preet Bharara Fired After Refusing To Resign

Preet Bharara, the powerful USA attorney in NY, said he was sacked Saturday after he refused to resign along with 45 other us attorneys appointed by the Obama administration, but asked to leave by President Donald Trump. "Moments ago I was sacked", Bharara said in the tweet. "Being the US Attorney ... will forever be the greatest honor of my professional life".

Bharara and 45 other attorneys appointed by President Obama were ordered to resign by the Department of Justice on Friday, but Bharara has reportedly refused.

The NY Times reports that the firings came as a surprise, especially for Bharara, who said he was asked in November by then-President elect Donald Trump about staying on. Career attorneys are to carry on the work until new USA attorneys are put in place, the Justice Department said.

Boente is the acting deputy US attorney general, appointed by Trump to replace Sally Yates, who was dismissed by Trump after she refused to defend his travel ban. Not least because Trump has yet to put forward any candidates to fill the posts. "Needless to say it is personally very sad for me".

Bharara has made public corruption and insider trading an emphasis since President Barack Obama appointed him midway through 2009.

This comes as a sharp u-turn after President Donald Trump's assurances to Bharara in November a year ago.

That is why Bharara's possible departure is shocking to many people, including Assemblyman McLaughlin who said Bharara is good at weeding out corruption in Albany and elsewhere in NY.

On the next day Bharara said in a tweet that he was sacked after he refused to submit his resignation. It's not an unusual move to replace prosecutors appointed by the previous president; 47 of the 93 USA attorneys had already left their posts. "This was done to protect the independence of our prosecutors and avoid disrupting ongoing federal cases".

"As was the case in prior transitions, numerous United States Attorneys nominated by the previous administration already have left the Department of Justice", Isgur Flores said in the email.

"Under previous administrations, orderly transitions allowed US attorneys to leave gradually as their replacements were chosen", the senator said in a statement.

In the past, some U.S Attorneys have been allowed to stay on to complete major cases.

One of his first tweets "linked to an AP video of a Senate hearing focusing on whether federal prosecutors were fired for political reasons", the AP said.

"As was the case in prior transitions, numerous United States Attorneys nominated by the previous administration already have left the Department of Justice", the spokeswoman said.

Despite the long list of past presidents who also fired US attorneys, as they are legally allowed to do, CNN criticized the firing, reporting an unnamed source saying, "This could not have been handled any worse".